Conveyor system

ABSTRACT

A mobile conveyor system for carrying bulk material in both a straight and transversely curved path having an endless elastomeric belt formed with an embedded inextensible central spine and the margins on either side corrugated for permitting transverse flexing. A self-propelled tractor is pivotally connected at each end of a chain of pivotally interconnected single-axle carriages with the load carrying and return spans of the conveyor belt trained over pulleys provided on the tractors and on rollers on the carriages intermediate the tractors.

United States Patent McGinnis [451 Oct.31, 1972 154] CONVEYOR SYSTEM[72] Inventor: Herbert E. McGinnis, Akron, Ohio [73] Assignee: The B.F.Goodrich Company, New

York, N.Y.

22 Filed: Feb. 1,1971

21 Appl. No.:111,320

[52] US. Cl ..198/109 [51] Int. Cl ..B65g'4l/00 [58] Field of Search..198/108, 109, 233, 92, 192,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,966,984 1/1961 Moon..198/109 2,776,040 1/1957 Snyder ..198/92 2,109,923 3/1938 Lemmon..198/192 R Hopkinson ..198/201 X Jones et al. ..198/109 PrimaryExaminr-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Douglas D. Watts Attorney-W. A.Shira, Jr. and Joseph Januszkiewicz s7 ABSTRACT A mobile conveyor systemfor carrying bulk material in both a straight and transversely curvedpath having an endless elastomeric belt formed with an embeddedinextensible central spine and the margins on either side corrugated forpermitting transverse flexing. A self-propelled tractor is pivotallyconnected at each end of a chain of pivotally interconnected single-axlecarriages with the load carrying and return spans of the conveyor belttrained over pulleys provided on the tractors and on rollers on thecarriages intermediate the tractors.

8 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHEI 31 I972 I SHEET 1 OF 3 rmvENroR. LL HEBERT E. MCGINNIS 1 CONVEYORSYSTEM I-Ieretofore, beltconveyors have been operated in generally straight paths withouttransverse curvature, or in those applications requiring the belt tofollow a curved path, the curvature has been limited to large radii sothat a pronounced difference in direction has required a curve extendingover a very great distance. In those applications where short changes ofdirection have been required, as for example in mine galleries, it hasbeen. necessary to transfer the load from one straight conveyor toanother or else to use a type other than a belt conveyor such as anapron conveyor or a flight conveyor operating in a curved rigid orarticulated frame. These latter expedients have been found generallyexpensive, inefficient and troublesome to operate.

For mining operations inwhich it is required to continuously transportthe discharge from an automatic miner, it has been quite difficult toprovide trackless conveyors which can follow the miner through the minegalleries. As the miner moves and changes the direction of its forwardmovement, it is usually necessaryto reposition the sections of conveyoradjacent the miner in order to provide continuous transport of thematerial discharged from the miner to a remote conveyor station or othercentrally located material removal means. Thus, it has longbeen'desirable to provide a trackless conveyor system of the typeutilizing an endless belt which has the capability of following anautomatic miner through its progression and changes in direction whilethe system continuously accepts and transports the material dischargedfrom the miner.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention provides asolution to the above-described problem by using an endless elastomericbelt formed with an inextensible central region and corrugated flexiblemargins extending from either side of the central region which enablethe belt to follow a curved path. A tractor means is provided,

capable of independently traversing the surface over which bulk materialis to be transported, and is at-- tached pivotally to a train ofpivotally interconnected single axle carriages. The belt is trained overa pulley provided on the tractor means and the load carrying and returnspans of the belt intermediate the tractors are supported and guidedduring transverse curving of the carriage train by rollers on each ofthe carriages. The single axle of each carriage is centrally located onthe carriage thus permitting the train of carriages and the beltssupported thereon to track behind the tractor means as the latteradvances along a transversely curved path. Power means is provided onthe tractor means for continuously driving the belt over the pulleys',

Thus, a mobile self-powered flexible conveyor system is provided whichis capable of continuously transporting bulk material in a transverselycurved'path and following the "source of the bull; material, as forexample a mobilized automatic mining machine. The present system thuseliminates the need for relocating separate stationary sectionsofconveyor apparatus for providing acontinuous path of material transportfrom the mining machine to a remote dispatching station.

of transversely spaced supporting wheels 51 mounted 2 BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the single axlecarriages;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the carriage of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section view taken along section indicat ing lines 44 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of a carriage roller taken froma view similarto FIG. 4 and showing an alternative arrangement for theidler rollers;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged portion of a view similar to FIG. 4 andillustrates an alternate form of the rollers for retaining thereturnspan of the belt;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged portion of a side elevation view of the tail-endtractor taken along lines 66 of FIG. 1.

. DETAILED DESCRIPTION shown disposed in a serpentine fashion as itfollows an automatic miner removing material from the galleriesfof amine. The conveyor is curved transversely as it bends around the cornersof the minevwa lls or pillars P. The presently preferred form of theconveyor system has each end thereof provided with a self-propelledtractor, denoted, respectively, by letter H for the tractor at thedischarge or head end of the conveyor and T for thetractor at thereceiving or tail end of the conveyor. Each of the tractors has a pulleymeans, preferably a drum 30 provided thereon, over which a conveyor belt40 is received in a manner so as to travel in an endless path.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the preferred form of the conveyorbelt is illustrated as comprising an inextensible but flexible centralregionor spine 41 embedded in elastomeric material 42 which iscorrugated in adirectionoblique to the spine on either side thereof tothus form the marginal regions of the belt. The corrugations 43 areillustrated as symmetrically oblique to the spine in a somewhatherring-bone fashion. However, it will be understood that thecorrugations may also extend transversely perpendicular to the spine. Inthe presently preferred practiceqf the invention, the obliquecorrugations are utilized to simplify requirements for providing idlerrollers over which the belt is to be supported. The belt incorporated inthe present invention'is substantially that as set forth in my copendingUS. application Ser. No. 687,557 filed Dec. 4, 1967, now US. Pat. No.3,545,598 and entitled Laterally Flexible Belt Conveyor."

A plurality of portable belt supporting means in the form of carriages50 is provided with each of the carriages pivotally interconnected inhead-to-tail arrangement thus forming a chain of carriages. Thecarriages,

as illustratedin FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, each have a single pair so asto-rotate about a centrally'located axle 52 in transversely spacedarrangement. Pivotal connections 53 and 54 are provided respectively ateach end of the carriage for interconnection to an adjacent carriage.The pivotal connections 53 and 54 may be of a pinclevis type, or anyother simple expedient, which permits flexing of the interconnectionbetween the carriages in a plane parallel to the surface over which thecarriage is traversed, with the pivotal interconnection being otherwiselimited in flexibility. Each of the carriages has a bumper 55,56 mountedon each side thereof and extending longitudinally the length of thecarriage, with each bumper exhibiting an outwardly concave surface inplan view. The bumpers 55,56 enable the carriage to make contact withthe s ides of roof supports or turning posts 57 provided in thegalleries and move freely thereon and track or follow the tail tractor Taround the corners of the mine pillars without the need for tracks orrails. Each of the carriages is maintained longitudinally balanced aboutthe single axle by virtue of the pivotal hitch interconnection to thenext adjacent carriage and the tension applied therebetween.

The end of each carriage is angled obliquely from the center such thateach end of the carriage has a somewhat V-shape as illustrated in FIG.2. The angled ends of adjacent carriages make contact when the train ofcarriages is curved about a sufficiently small radius. Thus, the angledends of the carriages serve to limit the maximum amount of curvaturebetween adjacent carriages.

Referring to FIG. 2, conveyor belt 40 is shown with the load carryingspan thereof supported on a plurality of idler rollers 58. The rollersare each mounted so as to rotate freely about an axis transverse to thebelt with the rollers being provided at spaced longitudinal stationsalong the carriage. In the presently preferred practice of theinvention, the rollers are arranged with three rollers at each stationwith the center roller horizontally disposed and the outward rollersinclined at an angle thereto so as to conform to the troughedconfiguration of the conveyor belt as it passes over the pulleys 30 androllers 58.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it will be seen that a similar arrangement ofsupport rollers 59 is provided immediately beneath each station for therollers 58, with the rollers 59 disposed so as to support the exteriorperiphery of the return span of the belt as it moved immediately beneaththe load-carrying span. The rollers 59 are preferably arranged so as torestrain laterally the return span in an inverted direction or directionopposite that of the load-carrying span.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, additional retaining rollers 60 areprovided at each idler station with the rollers 60 contacting the outeredges of the load carrying span of the belt to retain the belt incontact with the support rollers 58 yet permit roller contact duringhorizontal movement of the radially outer, or stretched, portion of thecorrugations as the carriages negotiate transverse curves. The rollersas illustrated in FIG. 4 are preferably disposed so as to have acylindrical portion 60a arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis andwith a conically flanged portion 60b extending therefrom so as tocontact the edge of the belt.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 5, an alternate form of the retainingrollers 70 is illustrated with a cylindrical portion 70a arranged torotate about an axis inclined to the vertical such that the cylindricalportion of the rollers 70a contacts the outer edges of the belt. Aconically flanged portion 70b is provided and extends at an obtuse anglefrom the cylindrical portion 70a with conical surface b contacting thecorner formed by the belt edge with the load carrying surface of thebelt. The roller arrangement of FIG. 5 thus permits the outer, orstretched, belt edge or move horizontally as the carriages follow thetractor in a curved path with edge corner contact of the conveyor beltbeing made with the conical portion of the rollers 70 instead of theentire edge surface of the belt contacting the conical portion of theroller as in the roller 60 of FIG. 4. The position of the belt corner asit contacts the conical surface 70b during curvature of the belt isillustrated in dashed line in FIG. 5 and in solid outline for beltcorner contact during straight spans of the belt.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 6, an alternative arrangement isillustrated for the rollers supporting and retaining laterally thereturn span of the belt. The rollers 59' at each station are formed orattached in pairs with one roller 59' near each end of a commonhorizontal shaft S disposed transversely of the carriage. Each roller 59has a flange 59" conically tapered toward the centerline of the carriagewith each longitudinal edge of the conveyor belt 40 making runningcontact with the respective adjacent conically tapered flange 59". Theshaft S is rotatably supported by a pair of bearing blocks B at eachroller station transversely spaced on the carriage, preferably eachequidistant from the centerline of the carriage and attached to theframe of the carriage. The alternate arrangement of rollers shown inFIG. 6 thus provides support and lateral restraint for the return spanof the belt without the necessity of separate and/or obliquely disposedroller shafts.

In the preferred practice of the invention, the rollers 58, 59, 60 and70 at the roller stations adjacent the ends of the carriage are spacedand/or extended transversely'for a greater distance than the rollersprovided at stations more centrally located on the carriage as isillustrated in FIG. 2. The wider spacing of the support rollers adjacentthe carriage ends permits the belt 40 to assume a transversely somewhatarcuate configuration along the carriage and thus lessens the severityof the belt flexing between carriages.

When power is applied to pulley 30 on the head tractor causing the beltto move thereover, the load-carrying and return spans of the belt movelongitudinally freely over the rollers on the carriages which serve toprovide vertical support for the spans of the belt and horizontalrestraint such that the belt follows the path of the carriages. Theconveyor system is thus capable of continuously transporting thedischarge from the automatic miner 20 through a transversely curved patharound the pillars in mine galleries and discharging the material to asuitable remotely located collecting station. In the present practice, atransfer conveyor (see FIG. 1) is mounted on the headend tractor H withthe transfer conveyor arranged to discharge onto a stationary linearconveyor which serves as a collector station. As the head-end tractor ispulled forward following the chain of mobile conveyor carriages the bulkmaterial is discharged onto the conveyor 90 at a con tinuously changinglocation therealong.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the tail-end tractor T is illustrated with thebelt 40 moving over the pulley means 30 with at least one station ofidlers 58 and 59 provided on the tractor for supporting the spans ofbelt 40 in the region adjacent the pulley means 30. The pulley means 30preferably comprises a drum having a corrugated surface (not shown)complementary to the belt surface; however, a smooth-surface cylindricaldrum may be used for simplicity. The drum is rotatably mounted between apair of transversely spaced brackets, or vertical plates 100, to rotateabout a horizontal axis. The brackets 100 are slidably mounted on rails101 affixed to the frame of the tractor such that the brackets or plates100 may be moved longitudinally along the tractor for tensioning thebelt. An adjustment means is provided illustrated in FIG. 7 as a fluidpower cylinder 102 having the piston rod thereof pivotally connected tothe brackets 100 with the opposite end of the cylinder anchored to thetractor frame by a pivotal connection to a lug 103 extending from thetractor frame. By energizing the power cylinder 102, the brackets 100and drum 30 are moved along the tractor thus providing a means fortensioning the belt. A motor M with belt or chain drive (see FIG. 1a) isprovided on the head-end tractor H, or discharge end, of the conveyorfor powering thedrum 30 over which the discharge end of the belt 40passes. If desired, the head-end tractor H may be similar to thetail-end tractor as illustrated in FIG. 1a except that the drum 30 maybe rotatably mounted at a fixed location on the head-end tractor H;

The conveyor system of the present invention thus employs a tracklesstrain of pivotally interconnected single-axle carriages preferablyhaving a tractor at either end for powering movement of the train ineither direction along a transversely curved path. The elastomericendless conveyor belt has an inextensible central spine embedded thereinwith the margins of the belt transversely corrugated to enabletransverse flexing. The belt passes over drums provided on each tractorand is supported over each carriage by transverse troughing rollersprovided thereon. The belt is moved over the drums by power meansprovided on one of the tractors while the entire train traverses thesurface over which the bulk material is to be conveyed.

The present invention thus permits a miner discharge conveyor system toadvance forward through the mine and eliminates separate relocation oftransfer conveyor apparatus in order to continuously move the materialfrom the miner to the stationary material collecting and dispatchingstation.

Modifications and adaptations of the illustrated embodiment will beapparent to those having ordinary skill in the art and the invention islimited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Iclaim:

1. A mobile conveyor system for transporting bulk material in a pathincluding both straight and transversely curved portions comprising:

a. an endless flexible conveyor belt of reinforced elastomeric materialwith the said belt including an inextensible flexible central portionand spaced integral corrugated margins extending from the said centralportion to the edges of the belt;

b. a train of carriages each including belt-supporting idler meansarranged to direct movement of the 6 belt in troughed conditionlongitudinally of the carriage train and means individually supportingeach carriage for movement over a surface to be traversed;

c. said idler means including two rows of longitudinally spacedtransversely extending rollers with one row contacting in a supportingmanner the inner periphery of the load carrying span of said belt andthe remaining row of rollers contacting in a supporting manner the outerperiphery of the return span of said belt.

(I. tractor means connected to at least one end of said conveyor beltand carriage train including means for moving said tractor over thesurface to be traversed;

e. drive means connected to the discharge end of said belt for movingsaid belt over said idlers;

f. means articulating said tractor means and said carriage train formovement as a unit in the direction of the length of said train whilepermitting angular displacement of the longitudinal centerline of anyone of the said carriages relative to the other; and

g. means limiting the extent of said angular displacement. e

2. The system defined in claim ll, wherein a. said carriages arepivotally interconnected; and,

b. said means for limiting the extent of said angular displacementincludes interengageable surfaces on adjacent ends of said carriageswith the included angle between corresponding surfaces of adjacentcarriages and on a common side of the longitudinal centerline being lessthan a right angle.

3. The system as defined in claim 2, wherein the means individuallysupporting each of said carriages comprises apair of spaced wheelsmounted so as to rotate about a common transverse axis locatedequidistant between the ends of the carriage.

4. The system defined in claim ll, further comprising a separate tractormeans at each end of said belt and train of carriages.

5. The system defined in claim 1, wherein each of said carriages hasskid means provided on the sides thereof for permitting the carriage tomove along a surface substantially perpendicular to the said surface tobe traversed.

6. The system defined in claim 5, wherein said skid means includes rigidportions concavely curved about a vertical axis.

7. The system defined in claim 1, wherein each carriage has roller meanscontacting the edges and the outer periphery of the load carrying spanof said belt for maintaining the belt in contact with said idler meansduring transverse curvature of the train of carriages.

8. The system defined in claim 7, wherein said roller means comprises aplurality of longitudinally spaced rollers disposed in two transverselyspaced rows with the rollers in each row contacting respectivelyopposite transverse edges'of the belt with each roller having acylindrical portion and a flanged portion tapered conically and at anobtuse angle with said cylindrical portron.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHCE CERTIFICATE OF QURRECTWN Patent No. 3,701,u1 Dated October 31, 1972 It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

The Inventor's first name should read ---I-EBERT---. Column, 4, line 4,delete "or" before "move" and insert ---to---.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of March 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M. FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents ORM PO-105O (IO-69) USCOMM-DC 5O376-P69 U.S4 GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFLFICE I969 O-3665'M

1. A mobile conveyor system for transporting bulk material in a pathincluding both straight and transversely curved portions comprising: a.an endless flexible conveyor belt of reinforced elastomeric materialwith the said belt including an inextensible flexible central portionand spaced integral corrugated margins extending from the said centralportion to the edges of the belt; b. a train of carriages each includingbelt-supporting idler means arranged to direct movement of the belt introughed condition longitudinally of the carriage train and meansindividually supporting each carriage for movement over a surface to betraversed; c. said idler means including two rows of longitudinallyspaced transversely extending rollers with one row contacting in asupporting manner the inner periphery of the load carrying span of saidbelt and the remaining row of rollers contacting in a supporting mannerthe outer periphery of the return span of said belt. d. tractor meansconnected to at least one end of said conveyor belt and carriage trainincluding means for moving said tractor over the surface to betraversed; e. drive means connected to the discharge end of said beltfor moving said belt over said idlers; f. means articulating saidtractor means and said carriage train for movement as a unit in thedirection of the length of said train while permitting angulardisplacement of the longitudinal centerline of any one of the saidcarriages relative to the other; and g. means limiting the extent ofsaid angular displacement.
 2. The system defined in claim 1, wherein a.said carriages are pivotally interconnected; and, b. said means forlimiting the extent of said angular displacement includesinterengageable surfaces on adjacent ends of said carriages with theincluded angle between corresponding surfaces of adjacent carriages andon a common side of the longitudinal centerline being less than a rightangle.
 3. The system as defined in claim 2, wherein the meansindividually supporting each of said carriages comprises a pair ofspaced wheels mounted so as to rotate about a common transverse axislocated equidistant between the ends of the carriage.
 4. The systemdefined in claim 1, further comprising a separate tractor means at eachend of said belt and train of carriages.
 5. The system defined in claim1, wherein each of said carriages has skid means provided on the sidesthereof for permitting the carriage to move along a surfacesubstantially perpendicular to the said surface to be traversed.
 6. Thesystem defined in claim 5, wherein said skid means includes rigidportions concavely curved about a vertical axis.
 7. The system definedin claim 1, wherein each carriage has roller means contacting the edgesand the outer periphery of the load carrying span of said belt formaintaining the belt in contact with said idler means during transversecurvature of the train of carriages.
 8. The system defined in claim 7,wherein said roller means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spacedrollers disposed in two transversely spaced rows with the rollers ineach row contacting respectively opposite transverse edges of the beltwith each roller having a cylindrical portion and a flanged portiontapered conically and at an obtuse angle with said cylindrical portion.